Darkness Within
by ForestBrookBeauty
Summary: When the group is separated, Sango falls into one of Naraku's devious traps. When the darkness engulfs Sango body, mind, and spirit. Can the group find her in time to save her? Warning: Depressing themes within.
1. Darkness

When darkness engulfs Sango - body, mind, and spirit. Can the group find her in time to save her?

I do not own the series Inuyasha or any of its characters.

* * *

"Please, make it stop" was all Sango could utter out as she lay on the cold damp ground, tears pouring down her cheeks. She couldn't explain it, why or how it all began, but all she knew was she couldn't make it stop. 

On their quest to find Naraku, multiple rumors of his location arose and the group, quite reluctantly, split up to uncover his location. Neither of them were to continue once they found him, merely trail behind unseen and send word back to the others. On her fourth day out, Sango had stumbled upon evidence of Naraku's presence and the presence of her younger brother. Realizing she had followed the correct lead, she sent Kirara off to inform the others.

Much to her dismay, her movements were not unseen, as Naraku led her back to the _Forest of Sighs_. Once there, she fell into his clutches as the vines tangled around her and her fears came to life.

"_Now now, no use letting these plants devour you my sweet." Naraku cooed in her ear, "I wouldn't want my bait dying on me now would I? Live bait truly is the best" he added, as a tainted jewel shards gleamed, before he set into a vine trapping her, and another into her chest. "Sweet dreams" he whispered as he disappeared into the shadows._

As the baboon faded away, a darkness enveloped Sango's mind and to her surprise, that was all that came. No horrific images of her brother being killed or killing, no deaths of friends or loved ones, only darkness.

A cold feeling that started at her fingers and toes crept up, through her body before it settled into her heart and every fiber of her being. The painful images were nothing to what she felt now. The tears flowed freely as she gasped for air, her body racked with sobs. She couldn't stop it, she just cried. Then it, the feeling that caused it all, loneliness. She felt so alone, so depressed.

She cried out as the sobs grew in volume and her body convulsed in pain – her heart was shattering. There was no one there, no one to comfort her, no one to tell her it would all be okay. There was no one.

Just then, images began flashing through her mind. Her father, Kohaku, her mother, all gone and faded into the darkness. Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara they too disappeared and as they did, another part of her being convulsed in pain.

Never in her life had she been so alone, so completely alone. The darkness was all around her, the silence, no wait she could hear something. A noise, a voice.

"Help me!" she cried out, as the sound got louder. And then she heard it, it wasn't rescue, or even a person, it was the sound of laughter. Cool, happy laughter, that wafted in on the wind to mock her. To sink her further into her despair.

Her cries grew out, "Please, just let me die" she begged the darkness, as the hours of torturous laughter and pain took their toll on her being. She tried to sleep, and as she woke, tears were still pouring down her face. "Please...just...make...it...stop" she pleaded between shudders.

Then she heard it. "Sankontessou!" echoed through the darkness, as she heard vines tear nearby, and voices called out to her.

"SANGO!!!" she heard Kagome yell.

"Please answer us" Miroku called after

"Help!" she tried call out, but it was barely above a whisper, her voice was now hoarse from crying.

"Mewl" she heard nearby, as she felt the vines that held her being tugged at.

"Inuyasha! Over there!" Kagome yelled, as she saw the faint glow of tainted shards and Kirara's body transform.

Running to Kirara's side, Kagome touched the vine, as the shard instantly purified, and broke free from the vine. Cutting the vines away in frenzy, the group was finally able to free Sango. Kagome reached forward to Sango's chest, as the shard purified and Sango let forth a scream.

Once the shard had been purified, her body was extruding the shard. The shard broke through her skin, as she reached down, to pull it out and handed it to Kagome.

"How did you know where I was?" she asked as they fled the area.

"Kirara. We followed her the entire way" Miroku replied from behind Sango, atop Kirara's back.

"Are you alright?" Kagome called overwhelmed

"Yeah, I'll be fine" Sango assured the group as she stared off into the distance. "And yet, why didn't Naraku attack" she whispered to herself. _Why go to all this trouble for nothing, _she thought as a tiny voice whispered in the back of her mind, and the laughter from before returned. The group flew on, as Naraku watched the image of the group retreat from within Kanna's mirror.

"The darkness I planted will never leave you dear Sango" he murmured into the mirror. "It will linger, and it will eat you inside until it destroys you."


	2. Revelations

"Well I guess this is goodbye" Miroku said as the group stood over Naraku's corpse, Miroku smiling at his curse-free hand.

"Goodbye?" Sango asked, brows furrowing in concern.

"Yeah I guess so." Kagome added as she walked over to Inuyasha and Shippo.

"Well, we did what we set out to do. Time to head out" Inuyasha agreed as he crouched so that Kagome could hop on, Shippo already on Kagome's shoulder.

"Goodbye guys" Kagome called as Inuyasha began running away.

"Well, it's finally over." Miroku said, stretching. "Goodbye Sango, I'm glad to have had a comrade such as yourself" he said as he too turned and began walking away.

"Wait!" Sango called as she ran after him. Yet, the faster she ran, the further away he got.

* * *

"WAIT!!!" Sango cried as she shot up on her bedroll.

Looking around her she saw her friends peacefully asleep around the fire in Kaede's hut. The group had returned to Kaede's after rescuing Sango to regroup and let Sango rest. Standing up, Sango padded silently out of the hut and walked off into the forest.

Walking deeper into the forest, Sango found herself at the well. Stepping forward she sat on the lip of the well, swinging her legs over the edge, looking into its depths. Staring down into well, the darkness within began to pull at the darkness within her own heart. Before Sango realized it, she was leaning forward, submitting to the darkness' pull. As she began to fall, Sango snapped out of it trying to reach out to catch herself. Just as she began to fall off the well, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back against a strong chest as she was pulled out of the well.

Standing, Sango closed her eyes and allowed her head to fall back upon the shoulder as her body rested against the strong chest, and the arms remained where they were around her waist.

"Thank you Houshi-sama" Sango whispered as Miroku sighed.

"What's wrong Sango?"

"No-nothing." Sango replied as she finally pushed off him and turned around to face his inquisitive stare. Miroku continued to stare into her soul as Sango began to squirm beneath his gaze. "Miroku, you're starting to make me nervous looking at me like that." she joked as she tried to walk past him, but he reached out his arm to grab her around the waist and pull her back against his chest.

"Something is wrong, I know it. I just wish you would tell me." He whispered into her hair, wrapping his other arm around her waist as well. "I've watched you toss and turn in your sleep every night since we rescued you. Most nights you just went back to sleep and I watched you until you fell asleep, but tonight you got up and so I followed you." Miroku confessed as fear seeped into Sango's soul. "Sango, please tell me what is wrong. I am here for you, and I want to help you. You just have to let me in" he whispered as Sango pulled away and looked at him.

"You're right." She started as she stared into his solemn expression. "You're here with me right now, but how much longer are you going to be here for me? How much longer until you run off and leave for one of those women who will 'bear your child'?!" Sango argued back, by the time she'd finished she was yelling and on the brink of tears.

"Sango, please" Miroku pleaded as he reached forward and pulled her to his chest and held her while she struggled. "Sango, don't you understand? Don't you see? If you'd let me, I'd never leave your side." he whispered into her hear, causing Sango to settle down.

A few moments later, Sango collapsed into tears as she sobbed into Miroku's chest. Losing her strength, Sango's legs collapsed as Miroku slid them to sit on the ground.

"Sango, tell me." Miroku pleaded, looking into her tear-stained eyes. "Tell me what you saw in the forest. Tell me everything that happened." he begged as she simply closed her eyes and shook her head. "Sango," Miroku started, reaching out to tip her chin up to look him in the eye, "I cannot help you and I cannot be there for you unless you let me."

"It was nothing" Sango finally whispered after a few moments.

"It was something." Miroku began to argue back, "Something is upsetting you."

"No, I mean I saw nothing. It was complete darkness. No deaths, no pain or suffering, just nothing. There was no one there and it was this cold loneliness. There was a sick voice in my head just laughing at me as I saw everyone I cared about fade away and I was alone." Sango explained as tears began to slowly fall down her cheeks.

Reaching out to her, Miroku pulled her to his chest again as he began to rub her back to calm her.

"Is that what you're afraid of?" he asked, pushing her back to look into her eyes as he wiped away her tears with the pads of his thumbs.

Nodding dumbly, Sango sat there staring into his eyes, slightly embarrassed by her confession.

"We'd never leave you Sango." Miroku assured her, smiling slightly as he stared at her tear-stained face. "We're your family, we're all a family. We are all we have and not even Naraku could make us abandon you." He added as he stood and reached his hands down to help her up. "Now come on. We should get some rest." he suggested with a smile as she stood before him.

Nodding, Sango followed Miroku in silence as the two headed back. Pausing, she reached out a hand as she grabbed his shoulder, turning him to look at her. Throwing herself forward, and catching him completely by surprise, Sango wrapped her arms around his neck as she embraced him.

"Thank you so much Miroku" Sango whispered into his ear as she pulled back and kissed him on the cheek.

"You know we have to tell the others tomorrow, right?" Miroku asked as Sango blanched.

"Do we have to?"

"They need to know Sango. This is a fear that Naraku planted inside you hoping it would eat you away from the inside. They need to know and you need to know that we would never abandon you." He replied as he placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed slightly to assure her.

"I don't know if I can." Sango admitted timidly. "What would the think?"

"That you are extremely strong to have survived Naraku's torture and endured this pain on your own for so long." Miroku cut her off before she could beat herself down anymore.

Taking a deep breath, Sango stood up straighter as she nodded and looked Miroku in the eyes.

"Now that's the demon exterminator I've come to love" Miroku said with a wink as he placed his hand on her lower back, leading her back to the hut.

_Love?_ Sango thought, completely in a daze and baffled by Miroku's statement.

A loud slap echoed through the forest as Sango stormed off from a smirking Miroku.

"Some things never change" she grumbled as she stormed off, a slight smile lingering on her lips.


	3. Strength

The group sat around the fire in Kaede's hut as Sango recounted the events that occurred to her during their separation. As she finished, Kagome jumped up and ran around to embrace Sango.

"Oh Sango!" Kagome wailed as she cried on her shoulder. "I had no idea! Why didn't you tell us?!" Kagome continued to cry as Sango and Miroku sat in shock. Inuyasha of course sat in the corner, his hands in his sleeves as he was deep in thought.

"Inuyasha, you're awfully quiet." Miroku pointed out as the girls pulled apart to look at him. "Anything on your mind?" He asked as Inuyasha lifted his head and opened his eyes.

"It's nothing, I've just been thinking." He stated as he turned his attention to Sango. "You know we'd never abandon you, don't you?"

"I, I thought I did." Sango stuttered a reply. "It's just that pain, it engulfed me, the loneliness and cold just consumed me – body and soul" she explained. "I know you're all there for me and that you are my family, but I just couldn't shake that feeling."

"You know he's going to try to use that against you again one day" Inuyasha continued as he leaned his head back against the wall and stared straight up. "He'll try to make you relive that pain, to hinder you and hopefully destroy you."

"I know. I just have to find a way to get around it. He will not beat me again" Sango replied, strong as usual.

"It won't be that easy!" Inuyasha yelled back. "He won't be attacking you physically, he'll be attacking you where you are most vulnerable, and where he's hurt you before – he'll be attacking your heart!"

"Inuyasha stop!" Kagome yelled, as she saw Sango clearly upset. "We'll figure something out. Besides, we're not going after him again until we're all better." she added as she stood up. "Speaking of which, I'm low on medicines and supplies, I'm going home." she declared.

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha bellowed this time as he too stood and ran up to her. Over Inuyasha's shoulder, Kagome saw Sango mouth 'Thank you', as Inuyasha completely forgot their previous discussion.

"I'm leaving and that's final!" Kagome yelled as she smiled back at Sango. "I'll be back in two days. Just relax and rest up." she added as she grabbed her bag and walked out, a furious hanyou on her heels.

"Inuyasha's right" Sango whispered, as Miroku looked on concerned. "I won't be able to fight Naraku with my weapons, not against this." She added determined as she stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going Sango?" Miroku called after her.

"To find my inner-strength" She added with a smile as she turned and walked out.

* * *

Kagome entered the hut two days later to find the boys all sitting around the fire silently. Shippo sat in the corner curled on Kagome's bedroll – asleep, Inuyasha sat with his back against the wall – eyes closed, ignoring the world, and Miroku sat meditating before the fire – tea in hand.

"Hi guys!" Kagome said cheerily, as all the men opened their eyes. Shippo launched himself at Kagome as she caught him and looked around.

"Where's Sango?"

"She should be back soon." Miroku replied, returning to his meditation.

"Back? From where?" Kagome asked as she sat down beside Inuyasha, Shippo in her lap.

"She left just after you and said she needed to go find her inner-strength" Inuyasha explained. "I think she went back to her village"

Just as Inuyasha finished, the door covering moved to the side and Sango entered into the hut, an emotionless expression on her face.

"Hello all" Sango greeted in a slightly monotone voice.

"Sango!" Kagome greeted. "Where did you go off to?"

"I went back home, prayed and meditated." She replied as she sat across from Kagome, beside Miroku.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Miroku asked, concerned by Sango's expression.

"Yes, I did" she replied simply, as Kirara walked in and sat behind Sango.

"Oh Sango! I almost forgot" Kagome exclaimed, moving Shippo to the side as she leaped up and ran to her bag.

Digging htorugh it, she emerged with a small box in her hand. Running to Sango's side, she opened the box to reveal a simple oval locket. Taking the locket, Sango opened it to find pictures of the group inside. Upon further inspection, she found that the back was engraved with the phrase – My family. Smiling weakly she looked up at Kagome's twinkling eyes.

"Thank you." She replied as she threw the chain around her neck and tucked the locket in her shirt.

"I just figured that this way we'd never be away from you." Kagome replied, her smile fading at Sango's lack of enthusiasm as she walked over and unrolled her bedroll.

"Well if everyone is better now, I suggest we depart in the morning" Miroku interjected as the silence settled.

"I agree. We leave at daybreak" Inuyasha commanded as he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

The rest of the group prepared for bed as usual, but as Sango laid down to sleep, Kirara walked away to Miroku's roll. Noting this change in the feline's behavior, Miroku watched Sango out of the corner of his eye. As Sango drifted off to sleep the monk noticed how her facial expression had not changed once since she entered the hut.

_What did she do to herself?_ Miroku thought as he too finally drifted to sleep.


	4. Confrontations

Weeks had passed since Kagome returned from her time, and the group has once again set out in search of Naraku. Much to Inuyasha and Sango's dismay, the group took a slight detour from their search to help a local village exterminate a "pest" problem.

"A few centipede demons? Those jerks!" Sango exclaimed as she threw her Hiraikotsu through another centipede, slicing it in two

"They knew it was an entire colony when they asked us, they tricked us!" Inuyasha grumbled as well.

Just as the group sliced down the last of them, the ground beneath their feet began to quake as it split open before them. From the crack, miasma issued and a humanoid figure emerged.

"Naraku" Inuyasha snarled as he sniffed the air. Using his Windscar, he cut through the miasma and purified the air, unfortunately missing the unidentified demon. The demon landed gracefully before them as he finally spoke.

"Tsk tsk. Such poor aim, just as Lord Naraku informed" he taunted Inuyasha, which sent him into a blind rage.

The tall, lithe, pale skinned demon simply dodged Inuyasha's attacks, as his long dark hair flowed behind – not even a hair getting sliced. Pulling out a sword from seemingly nowhere, the demon slashed down at the ground and sent a blast forth that threw Inuyasha back. As the girls yelled out, the demon set his sights upon Kagome and Sango. Inuyasha jumped up and ran towards Kagome as the demon lifted his arm to strike again. Realizing he would not make it, Inuyasha cried out to Kagome.

"KAGOME!!! NO!" he bellowed as the demon's slash fell downwards towards the ground.

Before he could follow through with his motion though, Miroku had opened his kazanna to suck in the demon and rescue Sango and Kagome. The demon, clearly annoyed by Miroku's intervention, simply reached his hand into his shirt as he flew towards Miroku. Just as the demon was about to disappear into the void that is Miroku's hand, he opened his palm and unleashed a hive of saimyosho. As the poisonous bees entered into his kazanna, Miroku sealed his cursed hand as he fell to his knees in pain.

The group all ran forward to his aid, and as they reached his side a cyclone of wind erupted around the group.

"NARAKU!" Inuyasha bellowed as the stench assaulted his nose.

"Houshi-sama, are you alright?" Sango asked, emotion beginning to seep back into her features

"I'm fine Sango" Miroku managed out as he pain shot through his face and lingered in his eyes.

"Kagome-sama, watch over him" Sango requested as she stood with her Hiraikotsu and walked to stand beside Inuyasha.

As soon as she reached his side, Inuyasha leaped forth through the cyclone and disappeared from sight. The group sat still, concern etched on their features as the sounds of a battle between Inuyasha and Kagura raged.

"WINDSCAR!" Inuyasha bellowed as the sound of trees falling could be heard.

"Dance of Blades!" was returned by Kagura, as a single blade flew through the top of the cyclone.

The group within sat as they worried about the battle outside.

"Inuyasha is out there with Kagura and Naraku alone" Sango whispered, as her hand tightened on the Hiraikotsu in anger.

"Would you rather be the one alone?" The cold voice began to whisper in her mind.

"Go away!" Sango yelled as she dropped her boomerang and grabbed her head.

"SANGO!" Kagome yelled as she tried to run towards her friend, but was blown backwards by the wind.

Looking up, Sango watched as Kagome, Miroku and Kirara were thrown from the cyclone and it tightened around her.

"Alone again are we, dear Sango?" Naraku's voice taunted in her mind.

"NO! You will not defeat me again!" Sango yelled as she tightened her resolve and put on her "poker" face.

Standing she picked up her Hiraikotsu and looked around herself. Steeling her resolve she began to block the voice out of her mind. Sounds from outside snapped her head to the side as she heard both Miroku and Kagome let out blood-curdling screams.

"Alone again." The voice whispered. "You'll always be alone. Even your brother left you, that is after he killed the rest of your family"

"Shut up!" Sango screamed as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"Sister?" Kohaku's voice sounded in her mind.

"Go away!" Sango cried as she once again fell to her knees.

"SANGO!!!!!!!!!!" her friends' voices screamed as she broke down crying.

"Goodbye my sweet." Naraku whispered as he hovered outside the cyclone. Raising a tentacle, he prepared to strike.

Sango knelt, hugging herself, as the tears poured down her face. The wind picked up as dirt and rocks tore at her skin and clothes. A light thumping on her chest caused Sango to open her eyes and look down to find the source. Opening her eyes, she found Kagome's locket flowing in the breeze, the chain straining in the wind. Just as the chain broke, Sango reached out and caught the locket in midair. Staring down at her palm, she opened it just enough to read the engraving again - "My Family"

As Naraku lashed out, Sango's reflexes kicked in as she sliced the tentacle off with the blade kept along her forearm. Grabbing her Hiraikotsu in a split second, she threw it through the cyclone at the source of the tentacle.

The boomerang impacted Naraku just below the waist as it sliced off his legs. Miasma issued forth from his legs hovering him in the same spot as the cyclone fell and Sango stood to catch her boomerang. Standing tall, the locket hung at her wrist from the chain clutched in the same hand as the Hiraikotsu.

"You've lost Naraku." Sango stated as she prepared to throw again. "Your mind games won't work on me anymore!" She screamed as she threw her boomerang towards him again.

A strong wind blew the Hiraikotsu off its course as Kagura hovered above the two on her feather. Naraku's miasma issued forth in a burst as he disappeared into the distance upon a cloud of miasma. Taking in her surroundings, Sango found her friends knocked out, around her, as the vines from the _Forest of Sighs_ crept towards them. Running forward, Sango sliced the vines and released her friends from the spell.

As they all recovered the group turned to face Sango as Kagome was the first to break the silence.

"How did you get away?" She asked, as Sango turned, confusion evident in her features.

"Away from what exactly?" Sango replied.

"From the cyclone" Miroku started

"And from Naraku" Inuyasha added

"But mostly, from your fears?" Kagome finished, as the group's eyes were all trained on Sango.

"With this" Sango replied as she tossed her locket to Kagome. "It opened my eyes when I was afraid and reminded me that you were all here beside me. That you all needed me to be just as strong as you were and relied upon me not leaving you as much as I needed you to stay with me."

"So you defeated the darkness. It's gone!" Kagome exclaimed.

"No Kagome, it'll never be gone." Sango interjected, returning Kagome to a serener state. "I overcame it this time, yes. But that darkness will live in me forever, I just have to remember I have my family and friends, the one thing that can bring me out of the darkness" Sango finished, as she reached over and took the locket back from Kagome. Opening her palm, she looked down to gaze at the locket, as a smile crept onto her lips.


End file.
